This invention relates to the removal of cutting blades from the periphery of an annular cutting head.
The chopping of glass fibers during formation such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,869,268 and which is incorporated herein by reference, is an effective method of forming particulate fiber glass strand. In a typical process, glass fibers are formed at a fiber forming bushing, sized with an aqueous sizing composition, gathered into strand, and passed between cutting blades and a backup roll which chops the strand into particulate glass fiber bundles. The cutting blades usually constructed of razor stock are, removably mounted in slots on an annular plate. These blades have a finite life, therefore, necessitating the removal and reinsertion of new blades in the cutting head periodically.
Because the glass fibers are being chopped during formation and are wet with the size or binder used to condition the fibers, the cutting blades have a tendency to accumulate the binder solids thereon. Difficulty is often encountered in removal of the spent blades from the cutting head because of the presence of these solids.
One problem associated with the removal of the cutting blades is that if one end of the cutting blade is forced from its mounting in the cutting head, the blade will have a tendency to cock and be wedged within its mounting causing it to break. Broken blades in the mounting cause severe problems in the removal of the remainder of the blade within that mounting.
Thus, there has been a need for a method and apparatus for the efficient removal of cutting blades mounted in slots in an annular plate in this art.